Lenovo's record-breaking earnings sets the pace for 2022 laptop market

Lenovo has reported blowout third quarter earnings, with a 62% year-on-year increase and an all-time net income high of $640 million.

The company said that "hybrid work arrangements" had boosted demand for its PCs over the quarter ending 31 December 2021.

Sales of its commercial PCs, excluding Chromebooks, increased at the third-highest rate of growth since 1998, the company said, with revenue from Lenovo's Premium PC segments, covering its workstation and gaming revenue, growing 40% and 27% year-on-year, respectively.

Lenovo's quarterly revenues have been on the rise throughout the pandemic, with the period ending 31 December being its 6th straight quarter of revenue growth of 50% or more. For the last two years, the company has sat top of shipment lists released by both IDC and Gartner as the biggest beneficiary of the laptop market's resurgence.

HP and Dell, Lenovo's closest rivals, will both report results for the quarter ending 31 December later this month. In Q2 of 2021, which ended in September for HP, the company saw shipments decline by 9%, year-on-year, though its desktop revenues increased by 11%. According to Gartner data, HP accounted for 21% of the market, compared to Lenovo's 25% in 2021, while Dell held just 16%.

Dell did report that its PC shipments were up 26.6%, year-on-year, for the quarter ending 31 September, which might see it leapfrog HP in the rankings. However, there is evidence to suggest that Lenovo is edging ever further away from both HP and Dell with its consistent growth for premium PCs.

In the quarter ending 31 September, revenues for Lenovo's Yoga and workstation units both doubled compared to figures from the previous year. What's more, its commercial PC revenue grew 29% annually and small and medium-sized business PCs jumped 48% year-on-year.